Nakatsu Castle

The castle was built at the mouth of the Nakatsu River, and its mock castle tower has become a symbol of the castle town of Nakatsu.

Because seawater is drawn into the moat at high tide, it is also called a “sea castle,” and along with Imabari Castle and Takamatsu Castle, it is one of the three largest water castles in Japan.

It was also called “Senjo” (fan castle) because of the right-angled triangular shape of the castle as a whole, which was compared to a fan.

Kuroda Takataka, a general of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, began construction of the castle in 1588. Kuroda Takataka belonged to Oda Nobunaga, and as a general advisor to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought and won many battles in various places.

Later, Hosokawa Tadaoki, a general and feudal lord who had distinguished himself in the Battle of Sekigahara, completed the castle and established the Nakatsu domain in the Edo period.

Thereafter, the lord of the castle changed to Ogasawara and Okudaira, and the domain was abolished in 1871.
The stone walls of Nakatsu Castle, built in 1588, are the oldest existing stone walls of a modern castle in Kyushu.

The present castle was rebuilt in 1964 by Masanobu Okudaira, the 17th head of the Okudaira family, a descendant of the former feudal lord.
The castle tower is 23 meters high and consists of a five-story exterior structure with five interior floors (five stories and five floors), and a two-story, two-tiered turret.

The castle tower is open to the public as a museum, displaying treasures from the Okudaira family collection, such as costumes, swords, battle tools, and old documents.